Thursday, 2 July 2009

Porterhouse Celebration Stout

Last November I visited the Old Country and was gifted a bottle of Porterhouse Celebration Stout by TheBeerNut (he's a generous soul). I drank it around Christmas (as the best before date said it was best before Christmas 2008) but just realised it had been lurking, forgotten, in my notebook. Shame on me! My recent adventure with the O'Hara's Celebration Stout jogged my memory, so here it is:

Despite the warning of containing yeast sediment on the back label, I didn't seem to get any, but then, with a beer this dark, would it really bother anyone? It's almost black, with rich mahogany tints around the edges when held to the light. A mouthwatering aroma of light, vinous fruit and, for some reason, I kept getting hints of spices like cumin. Taking a mouthful is like having your tongue rubbed with (blue?) velvet; a full and soft mouthfeel. This is a complex beer, no doubt, with lots of dried fruit, blackberries and a dryish coffee-like bitterness. My overall impression was of something verging on a liqueur, possibly something to do with the 10% alcohol. It's sweet, but in a cake-y way and balanced by a warming alcohol. A sipper for sure! A slight cardboardy dryness came out in the finish, but nevertheless, a lovely brew that would make a welcome permanent addition to the Porterhouse fold.

Well, I'd like more!
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9 comments:

  1. Alistair Reece3 July 2009 at 01:59

    A fantastic beer for sure! Such a shame I will probably only ever have the one bottle Beer Nut gave me.

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  2. Knut Albert3 July 2009 at 13:11

    I fully agree, probably the best Irish beer I ever tasted. They should have launched a series of annual bottle conditioned beers.

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  3. Iamreddave3 July 2009 at 14:08

    Isn't this a winter beer? We have one hiding at the back of the cupboard but we are waiting for colder weather.

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  4. Barry M3 July 2009 at 14:14

    As it happens (see post) I did drink this in winter, however, Ron Pattinson and TheBeerNut like a strong stout, chilled, in summer. I have to agree, considering I had the O'Hara's celebration just a couple of weeks ago.

    There's no such thing as a winter beer, just personal preference (or per pressure/advertising). Why not try it? :)

    I'll do my own test with Guinness Foreign Extra soon.

    Al, Knut, I know I will never get the chance to try one of these again, but an annual series would be a bloody great idea!

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  5. Barry M3 July 2009 at 14:15

    "per pressure" was supposed to be "peer pressure". My fingers are sticky in this damn heat. I need a cold glass in my hand!

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  6. The Beer Nut3 July 2009 at 16:01

    I should probably take my last few bottles of this out of my superheated attic.

    And I agree that the Porterhouse need to do more of this kind of thing. We should have more imperialesque stouts in Ireland generally.

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  7. Alistair Reece4 July 2009 at 20:58

    A thought just flashed before my eyes, an Imperial Wrasslers XXXX!!!! That would one hell of a monster, and certainly one I would hunt high and low for if they bottled it - any word on when the bottling line is up and running?

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  8. Barry M5 July 2009 at 00:06

    Stop teasing my imagination! They do such a good job with Wrasslers and did such a nice job with the Celebration, a Power Ranger-esque combination of the two would blow my socks off!

    I read somewhere (probably from the BeerNut and possibly via ICB) that they had sample bottles (maybe just labelled and not yet filled) at a recent foodie event in Dublin, so it looked like things were Moving. I haven't seen a firm date though. So basically, no idea when :D

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  9. The Beer Nut6 July 2009 at 00:59

    I can assure you they were empty mock-ups. Expect actual PH bottles when you see them.

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